Above ground swimming pools



July 7 1970 R. CUDNEY 3,518,705

ABOVE GROUND SWIMMING POOLS Filed April 4, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR g (xv/4&0 (VOA/E) July 7, 1970 R. CUDNEY ABOVE GROUND SWIMMINGPOOLS .4 SheetsSheet .5

Filed April 1, 1968 0 oooooooooooa i} OOOOOO INVENTOR R/CH40 cup/vi) I W(F ATTOR EYE July 7, 1970 R. CUDNEY 3,518,705

ABOVE GROUND SWIMMING POOLS Filed April 4, 1968 .4 Sheets-Sheet 5 lam/74 90 (a0 4/5 July 7, 1970 R. CUDNEY ABQVE GROUND SWIMMING POOLS .4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April &, 1968 "ENEM United States Patent 3,518,705ABOVE GROUND SWIMMING POOLS Richard Cudney, New York, N.Y., assignor toURB Products Corporation, Farmingdale, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Apr. 4, 1968, 'Ser. No. 726,632 Int. Cl. E04h 3/16 US. Cl.4--172.21 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An above ground swimmingpool comprising a flexible plastic liner disposed within a rigid frameand having a planar cross-sectional configuration which includes atleast one generally arcuate section and having coupled thereto a pooldeck. The deck is disposed at a height substantially equal to the top ofthe liner and includes an elongated center member which is fixed withrespect to the pool and tangent to and abutting against a first portionof the pool periphery and at least one flap member pivotally coupled toone end of the elongated member and adapted to be brought in abuttingrelationship with other, adjacent portions of the pool periphery,thereby forming a continuous non-straight deck about said pool peripheryportions.

Background of the invention Above ground swimming pools have gainedgreat popularity in the last few years and are now available in a widevariety of depths, sizes and shapes including round and partially roundconfigurations. Such pools are often provided with accessories such aspool decks, which may serve as diving boards or sitting or loungingareas and are designed to promote the same general esthetic impressionusually associated with below ground pools. Since the water level ofabove ground pools often extends above the ground for a considerableheight, it is most desirable that the deck surface also be located abovethe ground the same distance so as to facilitate entrance and egress toand from the pool. In many cases, the depth of the pool is quite large,often five feet or more, so that it is quite important, for safety sake,to maintain substantial abutment between the deck and pool frame tominimize the danger of a person falling off the deck or tripping orgetting caught between the deck and pool.

Heretofore, accessories of the type described were generally customfitted to a particular pool and hence were relatively expensive tomanufacture and purchase. Thus, it is a principal object of the presentinvention to provide a pool deck which is relatively easy andinexpensive to manufacture and which may be conveniently adapted toaccommodate a wide range of pool sizes and configurations.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the present invention, thisand other beneficial objects and advantages are attained by providing anabove ground swimming pool having a flexible liner disposed within arigid frame and having a planar cross-sectional configuration whichincludes at least one arcuate portion with an adjustable deck adapted tobe brought into a substantial abutting relation with the arcuate portionof the pool. The pool deck includes a support frame substantially equalin height to the depth of the pool and to which is mounted a firstelongated floor member which is fixed with respect to the pool frame andsubstantially tangent to a first section of the arcuate portion. Atleast one elongated flap member extends from one end of the floor memberand is pivotally connected thereto and adapted to be brought into anabutting relationship with a section of the arcuate portion which isadjacent the first section, thereby forming a continuous substantiallyabutting deck about the pool. Since the flap member is pivotallyconnected to the floor member, the angle between the two may be variedand, by changing this angle, a wide range of pool dimensions may beaccommodated by a single deck size. The floor member and flap member maycomprise a multiplicity of parallel elongated slats, each slat on theflap corresponding to and pivotally mounted with respect to a slat onthe floor member.

Description of the drawings In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an above ground swimming pool providedwith an adjustable deck section in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the deck end of the pool andincludes in phantom a representation of a smaller pool and the method ofadapting the deck to the smaller pool;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

Description of the preferred embodiment Reference is now made to thedrawings, and in particular, to FIG. 1 wherein an above ground pool 10embodying the improvements of the present invention is depicted. Thepool 10 includes a continuous wall member 12 defining generally arcuateend portions separated by a straight-sided center portion. The arcuateend portions may be in the form of either intersecting ornon-intersecting circular segments. Various materials are available fromwhich the wall 12 may be constructed, but I prefer to use corrugatedsheet steel or aluminum. Also, the wall may be formed from one integralsheet or from two or more joined sections.

A water impervious liner 14 is disposed about the pool interior andserves to contain the water 16 with which the pool is to be eventuallyfilled. The liner 14 includes a wall section 18, the top of whichdepends from the top of the wall 12 and a base portion 20 adapted torest on the pool site 22. A coaming 24 is provided which serves tosecure the liner top to the pool wall. When the pool is set up, fill 26in the form of peat moss, sand, etc., should be interposed between thebottom of the wall 12 and liner bottom 20 in the manner shown in FIGS. 3through 6 so as to support the liner at the transition between the linerwall 18 and liner base 20.

Upper and lower rails 28 and 30 are provided for the top and bottom ofthe pool side wall 12 and serves to finish off the side walls in anesthetically pleasing manner as well as to cover the relatively sharpupper wall edge which, if not covered, would present a potential hazardto those entering or leaving the pool. In this preferred embodiment, theupper rail 28 is comprised of a plurality of straight-sided sections 32which overlie both the straight and arcuate side wall sections. Thisprocedure facilitates both the manufacture and assembly of the pool andalso provides a product which to some is more appealing than a poolhaving round rails. The upper rail 28, composed of straight-sidedsections 32, also facilitates the coupling of the pool and deck in amanner to be described forthwith. Vertical bars 34 are spaced about thepool periphery between the upper and lower rails 28 and 30 and serve tosecure the one to the other.

Since the pool described in this preferred embodiment includes anoncircular planar cross-sectional configuration, the pool walls willhave a natural tendency to deform when the pool is filled with water.This is due to the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the water on thewalls. For this reason, buttress means 36 are required to counteract thehydrostatic forces. The buttresses 36 are provided on opposite sides ofthe pool along the straight sections 38 and 40. The buttress supportingthe straight sections 40 is not visible in the drawings but is identicalto that supporting section 38. The opposed buttresses are tied togetherby metal straps 42 and 43 which extend beneath the pool and serve tocounteract any tendency of the pool to rotate in either direction underthe influence of the hydrostatic forces when the pool is filled.

Moment plate 44 and ballast plate 46 are provided on the outside andinside of the pool and each buttress and cooperate with the tie straps42 and 43 in preventing rotation of the pool.

The buttress itself consists of diagonal members 48 and 50 dependingdownwardly from a horizontal member 52 which extends between thevertical uprights 54 and 56. Additional diagonal members 58 and 60depend from the uprights 54 and 56 themselves. The lower end of eachdiagonal member 48, 50, 58 and 60 is coupled to the moment plate 44. Inaddition, the lower ends of the extreme diagonal members 58 and 60 arecoupled to base members 62 and 64 which extend toward the moment platefrom the lower ends of the vertical members 54 and 56. Thus, the outwardforces exerted on the straight section 38 of the wall 12 are directedthrough the members 48, 50, 58 and 60 through the moment plate 44 to theground site upon which the pool is erected. An identically constructedbuttress supports the straight section 40 located on the opposite sideof the pool.

Reference is now made to the pool deck 66 which is located at one end ofthe pool 10. The deck includes a support structure comprised of uprights68 extending from and coupled by L-shaped brackets 71 to horizontal basemembers 70 which rest upon the pool site. The uprights 68 are arrangedin two perimeters, an inner perimeter proximal the end wall of the pooland an outer perimeter which defines the deck width and the ends of thedeck.

The height of the uprights forming the inner perimeter is substantiallyequal to the height of the pool wall, thereby permitting unobstructedpassage from the deck to the pool. The uprights forming the outerperimeter have portions 69 extending above the pool wall and may havecoupled thereto safety rails 72 which serve to protect the pool usersfrom accidental falls. In this preferred embodiment, the rails compriseheavy gauge rope strung between the uprights. A ladder 73 is provided asmeans by which bathers may gain access to the deck from outside thepool. A second ladder 75 extends into the pool from the deck.

Horizontal support member 74 extends between associated uprights on theinner and outer perimeters and the deck floor 76 rests upon thesupporting members. In this regard, the deck floor 76 consists of threesections; a fixed intermediate or center section 100 and two endsections 102 and 104 pivotally mounted with respect to the centersection. Both the center floor section 100 and the right and left endsections 102 and 104 respectively are formed from a multiplicity ofslats or boards 78 secured at their ends to the horizontal supportmember 74. Additional support may be obtained from the horizontalmembers 77 upon which the slats freely rest without fasteners. The slatsforming the center section 100 are fixed at their ends to horizontalsupports 80 and 82 which extend between uprights 84, 86, 88 and 90. Theslats forming end sections 102 and 104 are also coupled to thehorizontal support members 80 and 82. These end section slats arepivotally mounted to the horizontal supports 80 and 82 so that the endsection may be pivoted by pivoting each individual slat about thefastener 92 which couples the end section slats to the support members80 and 82. To facilitate this pivotal movement, the ends 99 of the slatsforming the end section are rounded and a spacing is maintained betweenadjacent slats. The free ends 94 and 95 of the left and right endsection slats are coupled to support members 96 and 98 respectively.Thus, after the center section of the deck is brought into abuttingengagement with a first end portion 108 of the pool wall 12, the endsections 102 and 104 may also be brought into abutting relationship withthose sections of the pool wall 110 and 112 adjacent the first section.In this regard, the straight sections 32 which are disposed along thetop of the pool wall, permit complete abutment between the pool anddeck. U-shaped clamps 114 secure the deck to the pool and preventfurther motion of the deck once the deck is properly located withrespect to the pool. As shown in FIG. 2, the disposition of the endsections 102 and 104 with regard to the center section may be variedthrough a wide range of angles so that one pool deck, produced inaccordance with the present invention, may be used with a wide range ofpool sizes.

It should be understood that modifications may be made in theillustrated and described embodiment of my invention without departingfrom the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In an above-ground swimming pool of the type having a flexible linerdisposed within a rigid frame and a planar cross-sectional configurationwhich includes at least one generally arcuate section, the improvementcomprising a pool deck including vertical supporting means, a firstelongated floor member fixed with respect to said frame andsubstantially tangent to said arcuate section and at least one elongatedhorizontal floor member extending from said fixed member and pivotallymounted with respect thereto and adapted to be brought into an abuttingrelationship with portions of said frame adjacent said arcuate sectionwhereby to form a continuous, substantiallly abutting deck about saidarcuate section of said poo 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1wherein said support means support said deck at a height substantiallyequal to the top of said liner and said floor members comprise aplurality of slats extending outwardly from said frame, the innermostslat of each member being tangent to said frame.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said deck furthercomprises two floor members each extending outwardly from and pivotallymounted to the longitudinal ends of said elongated fixed floor member.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said rigid frameincludes a multiplicity of straight sections disposed on top of saidliner and generally describing said arcuate configuration.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cross-sectionalconfiguration includes two opposed arcuate sections separated by andconnected to oppose straight sided sections.

6. An adjustable pool deck adapted to be used with an above-groundswimming pool of the type having a flexible liner disposed within arigid frame including: support means, a first elongated floor membermounted on said support means and interposed between end fioor sectionswherein said end floor sections are pivotally mounted to said supportmeans with respect to said first fioor member whereby to enable saiddeck first fioor member and end floor sections to be brought into asubstantially abutting relationship with adjacent sections of said pool,said support means supporting said deck at a height substantially equalto the top of the pool liner and said first floor member and end floorsections comprising a plurality of parallel slots, the slats of said endfloor sections being pivotally mounted to said support 'means withrespect to the slats of said first fioor member.

References Cited LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner 10 H. K. ARTIS,Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

